The
University of Pennsylvania Institute on Aging (IOA) will
fund three multidisciplinary pilot projects on biomedical,
epidemiological, behavioral or health services research
in basic science or clinical areas in aging. Each pilot
will be funded at a level of up to $50,000/year (for personnel
and supply costs, but not equipment). These one-year, non-renewable
grants support multidisciplinary pilot projects in aging-related
research. The purpose is to assist faculty in obtaining
preliminary data to serve as the basis of a grant application
to the NIH or other public or private agencies concerned
with aging. Application instructions may be found on the
IOA website: www.uphs.upenn.edu/aging/.

A
committee representing the IOA Internal Advisory Board
will review
all proposals. Funding depends not only on scientific
merit, but also on the likelihood that the pilots will
lead to independent investigator initiated proposals. Principal
Investigators must be on the faculty of Penn's School of
Medicine, but collaboration with faculty from other departments
is strongly encouraged.

Priority
will be given to:

Faculty
in the early stages of their career who seek to enter
the aging research arena

Senior
faculty who intend to shift their research emphasis
towards aging

Applications
should utilize the basic NIH PHS 398 form with a limit
of 5 pages (exclusive of face page, budget, biosketches,
letters of collaboration and literature cited). The application
submission deadline is May 3, 2004 and questions
may be directed to Kathryn Jedrziewski, Deputy Director,
Institute on Aging (IOA), telephone (215) 898-2445 or e-mail: jedrzmk@mail.med.upenn.edu.